69´«Ã½

Where the Hunter Dinerant will be trucked to next will be determined its new owner, the city of 69´«Ã½, which in the coming weeks will issue a request for proposals to purchase and relocate the diner. 

Officials from the city, which acquired the railcar diner at 18 Genesee St. in May through tax foreclosure, told 69´«Ã½ this week it will need to be relocated from the steel beams and concrete piers holding it over the river due to the danger it poses. Specifically, a breach of the Mill Street Dam a quarter of a mile upstream from the diner would likely cause loss of life if anyone was inside.

"There would be a very limited time between the dam breaking and that initial wave hitting the diner and the bridge," Director of Municipal Utilities Seth Jensen told 69´«Ã½.

The city reached that conclusion using a flood inundation map that simulates what would happen to downtown 69´«Ã½ in the event of a dam breach, Jensen said. The city is required to update the map regularly because the dam is classified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as having high hazard potential, which in turn is partly because of the diner. The beams and piers supporting it create what Jensen called "a hydrologic challenge," disrupting high river flows on their own and by catching debris like tree branches. So the diner's relocation could result in a lower hazard potential classification for the dam, he continued. That would require less review by outside consultants, saving the city what he estimates could be hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next decade.

Recent extreme rain events, like the 7.64 inches that fell in just three days and flooded Owasco Lake in August 2021, have made such contingency planning even more important, Jensen said.

"The peaks and valleys of Mother Nature have been so extreme lately that any time we can mitigate the risk of the public being harmed, I think we should consider it," he said. "Now that the city owns the diner, in my opinion (relocating it) is the right thing to do. ... There's no way, I don't think, in current times that a private developer would be able to construct a building like that over a river." 

Because the city has not yet issued its request for proposals, officials could not comment with any specificity on the criteria they'll use to evaluate bids for purchasing and relocating the Hunter Dinerant. But Jennifer Haines, director of 69´«Ã½'s Office of Planning and Economic Development, told 69´«Ã½ that safely removing the diner from its riverside perch will be the city's primary concern.

While Haines couldn't say whether the city will favor bids that would keep the diner in the 69´«Ã½ area, she noted that officials "would love to see it still in our community somewhere." 

"There is a significant community connection to this spot. So we want to be careful, respectful and thoughtful about how we handle this because of that connection and the emotion around the diner," Haines said, noting the diner's connection to President Joe Biden and his family. "We know the diner is important, but we also know that it's important to keep the community safe."

Haines thanked Rachael and Bill Juhl, the Hunter Dinerant's owners since 2011, for their "mighty efforts" to keep it open until Dec. 31 of last year. Because the city acquired the diner from them through tax foreclosure, Haines said officials want to be responsible with public dollars. That's why, instead of removing the diner itself, the city hopes to attract private dollars through its request for proposals.

But finding a bidder who can manage the many different facets of purchasing and relocating the diner could be a challenge, city engineering Superintendent Bill Lupien told 69´«Ã½.

The project will involve more than safely removing the railcar, trucking it to a new location and running the diner there, Lupien said. The city also hopes the winning bidder will demolish the rear wooden structure where the kitchen is located, remove the concrete piers from the Owasco River and take the beloved neon sign planted in the Genesee Street sidewalk with the diner to its new location. 

Lupien expects some bidders will propose subcontracting parts of that process — which will include a hazardous materials survey as well — or even leave parts out for the city to handle afterward.

"We may have a person who wants the diner and doesn't want anything to do with the concrete piers," he said. "If we can get one person to do everything that'd be our first choice." 

For now, all Lupien knows for sure is that his department will be ready to place a safety rail in the section of the Genesee Street bridge where the Hunter Dinerant was located for the past 70-plus years. 

"This diner has been part of 69´«Ã½ for so long that we really want it to be reused," he said. "It'd be nice if it was relocated in the area."